Summertime at the Beach

     "Summertime and the living is easy", but it is a time for consideration of others as well.  So many times the frantic explosion of energy throws sand in the face of others.    It is a time for fun and the release of pent up energy, but keep it under control wen you around others. 

     Please come to the coast and enjoy the sun

and sand, but when you arrive bring all of the things that you need for fun.  The most important thing is that the only thing that you leave behind you is foot prints.   Please take some time before you leave to leave the beaches and parks cleaner than the people before you did.

     Pleas enjoy your summer outings and make sure that the ones that follow you don't have to cleanup your messes.  ;o)

Haiti The First Day

A City of 10 Million Plus

     Port Au Prince, Haiti is a study in contrasts.  You have rough dirt roads that are lined with street vendors and cars running 3 and 4 wide.  You get in another part of town and the roads are smooth and paved beautifully.  There is a lot of construction going on through out the town, some related to the earthquake a few years back and others jus new buildings, stadiums and parks.





     From the 3rd floor window of our hotel, we have a beautiful view
of the mountains that are behind Port Au Prince.  The afternoon rain shower give the hillside a much deeper color and freshness.  Now there are some ominous dark clouds appearing from behind the mountain.  This light shower may bring some serious water falling from the sky real soon.



First View of the Haiti

     This is a very colorful place with the "Tap Tap" Safari buses and the colorful markings on the stores and businesses.  I wish that I had another day to explore this interesting city of more than 10 million people, but congestion is the word in the city.  It takes about 45 minutes to travel the 2 to 3 miles from the airport to the hotel.  I guess if they ever get the Rhum Festival to happen here that they tried to put together I would love to come back and see more.  Especially the Rhum Barbancourt Distillery.  Our plane arrived late and we weren't able to connect with the people from Barbancourt toget the tour that we were planning.  Next time will work.  ;o)

Special Resort Prices for Caribbean Rum and Beer Festival Attendees

     If you are planning to be in St. Maarten
for the Caribbean Rum and Beer Festival this November 6th and 7th, here is a great resort deal for you.  The festival is happening at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino, and you can be in this fabulous all inclusive resort.  This price offering is just unbeatable for an all inclusive deal.  This is the 5th edition of the Caribbean Rum and Beer Festival and I'm looking forward to being a part of the event this year and getting back to St. Maarten with its beautiful beaches and all of the fine rums that are participating this year.

Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino

We are please to be partnering with one of St Maarten's premier 'All-Inclusive' premier hotels; The Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino. The hotel is the venue for the 2-day Festival and we have worked with the Resort to bring our Festival Guests some highly competitive and deeply discounted resort rates.

Come join us as a Festival Guest and take advantage of this fabulous 'Limitless All-Inclusive' package on offer from our Festival Partner hotel the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino.

The 'Limitless All-Inclusive' package on offer at this beautiful resort includes;

• Champagne and cold towel check-in
• Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks each day in any of the resort's 5 restaurants
• Unlimited international and domestic premium beer, wine and spirits, fruit drinks and soft drinks in all 5 bars, including the swim-up pool bar
• Mini-bar refreshed daily with soft drinks and bottled water
• Weekly manager’s cocktail party and beach dinner party
• Free WiFi in guest rooms and common areas
• Fitness center
• Scheduled daytime activities like aerobics, bocce ball, billiards, board games, darts, ping-pong, snorkeling, tennis and water aerobics
• Nightly theme parties, live entertainment and outdoor movies
• 21% Hotel taxes, utility and service fees
• Full exchange privileges* with Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Casino & Spa for a day of beach relaxing, sun basking and dining al fresco

* You must be over 18 years old, since Sonesta Great Bay is an adults-only resort.

Room Category	Double	Extra Person	Single
Premier Island View	US$145	US$125	US$200
Pool / Ocean View	US$155	US$130	US$215
Premier Ocean View	US$165	US$140	US$230

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Prices are per person, per night, all inclusive, based on a minimum 3 night stay which must incorporate both days of the Festival, 6 & 7 November 2015 (see special conditions)

This is a limited offer and is EXCLUSIVE to Festival Guests only. To qualify for this offer each adult traveller must pre-purchase a Weekend Ticket for the Caribbean Rum & Beer Festival (US$40 each). After payment online for your Weekend Festival Tickets, you will be emailed a Hotel Booking reference which must be used to access the discounted hotel rooms directly online with the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino.

These rooms will sell out. Avoid disappointment, buy your Hotel Weekend Festival Tickets and book your rooms today. (see special conditions)

- See more at: http://www.rumandbeerfestival.com/where-to-stay#sthash.VfLS3efn.dpuf

 

 

Make your reservations and get your tickets for the event early this year.  I'll be there to assist with the judging of the rums and I'm hoping to see many of my friends there as well. 



Bahama Bob is headed off to the South and a Two Week Vacation.

     We are headed to Haiti to visit the Barbancourt Distillery this morning.   This is a great thing for
me and Marta, we have been extremely busy over the pas t year and it is finally time for us to get away.

     Wednesday the 8th through Tuesday the 14th, We will be without Internet, so You will be reading
prewritten blogs.  I will fill you all in completely what we have been up to when I return to the digital world.   I will be taking thousands of pictures and creating many stories to share with you upon my return to the keys on the 18th of July.

    Enjoy the stories that I have put together for you in my absence and I'll be able to tell you a whole bunch of new tails upon my return.  

Sun Showers in the Summer Evening

     One of the most beautiful sights in the Keys is the mix of sun and showers in the late afternoon.   The battle between the sun and the clouds is an epic one that can hold your attention as you sit on the aft deck or your patio.  This is one of the better ones that I have seen in quite a while.  Enjoy the beautiful.  ;o)

Snoop Dogg Heads to Cuca Fresca Cachaca

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg is finally coming to reality slowly, he is becoming a part of the "Brazilian Rum", Cachaca.  "You can't be cool by being like everyone else," he says in an advertisement that starts with a view of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue. "Stay ahead of the game . drink different."  This is a far from the other rappers and their Vodkas and Cognacs, he is working with an up and coming spirit called Cachaca.  Putting his name on the marketing of Cuca Fresca Chacaca , is a great move.  This sugar cane spirit has recently separated itself from the category of rum and headed to its own place in the spirits world.

     Cocktails like Caipirinahs that have given the spirit its name, but the spirit has come into its own in the past few years.  Premiumization of the spirit has added to the attention that Cachaca is getting these days.   It is following in the path of its rum cousin by aging and improving the production process of the spirit to raise itself out of the "redheaded stepchild" image that it had in the past.

     "The cachaça industry has transformed over the last 20 years," says Paulo Furquim de Azevedo, of São Paulo's Insper business school. The industry traditionally consisted of family producers in regions such as Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state or Salinas in Minas Gerais. The consumer's problem was obtaining information to distinguish premium products from the rest, notes Mr Furquim.

 

Cuca Fresca Cachaca

     It is my feeling that Snoop Dogg has put himself into a great position to grow along with a product that has really come to life following the 2014 World Cup Championships exposure that brought it to the forefront of the spirits world.

     Brazil has 2,000 producers and 4,000 brands with output of 800m liters per year and capacity of 1.2bn liters, according to Ibrac, Brazil's cachaça institute. Over the past two decades, the industry has begun to introduce certification to set higher standards. Groups of important producers in Paraty and other regions have established regional certification. Premium products, some of which are aged for up to 12 years, can cost more than $100.

 

     There are so many really great Cachacas to try, find your favorite and learn to make so many of the cocktails that have brought the Cachaca name to the forefront of the cocktail world.  ;o)

 

Rum from Around the World

     I am asked very often where does the “best rum” come to us from?   In the early days of rum making I would have to say Barbados, but today there are many great rums coming from all over the world.   At the Rum Bar we have so many of the unusual rums from the far reaches of the world.   Many think that good rum only comes from the islands of the Caribbean, but you would be really surprised how many really fine types of rum come from places in this world you would never expect to be producing rum. 

     You might remember Guyana for the Jim Jones Kool Aid massacre, but it is one of the producers of some of the finest rums in the world today.   Panama, Mauritius, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Spain, Venezuela, Nigeria, Costa Rico, just to name a few places.  Oh, I forgot to mention the United States where there are a large number of craft distilleries that are producing some really fine rums.  Placers like, Florida, Hawaii, and Louisiana you might expect, because they all produce sugar cane, but California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Pennsylvania all are producing many fine rums as well. 

  
    This is why I have a really hard time truly to come up with an answer to the question.  I have many favorites from places that you would never expect to find good rums.  Phraya from Bangkok, Thailand, Pink Pigeon from Black River, Mauritius, Diplomatico and Santa Teresa Rums from Venezuela to name a few.   Look around the world and you will find fine rums from nearly everywhere in the world.   Spend some time exploring the rums of the world and you will have some very pleasant surprises.

Woodies on the Santa Cruz Wharf

     As a younger boy growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, I spent a lot of time at Santa Cruz
surfing and just plain partying on and around the beach at Santa Cruz.  In the era that surrounded 1962 through 1966, most of us were driving station wagons with a surfboard of two sticking out of the back window.  I was lucky enough to have had a 1956 Chevrolet station wagon that belonged to the parents, but did the job very well to haul the surfboards and a few friends over the mountain to the beach at Santa Cruz.  Many of my friends had woodies, the coolest of the surfer vehicles, but the Chevy wagon was plenty cool enough to get us there and back.

    This past weekend, the annual gathering of the National Woody Club happened at the Santa Cruz Wharf.  A gathering of some 185 classic woodies all parked for display on the wharf.  This is always a very great show, this year was no exception.  Check out the Video below.

See the Drone Video of the woodies and the Beach at Santa Cruz.   https://youtu.be/W92349BGH7c

     Santa Cruz residents took a trip back in time on Saturday at the 14th annual "Woodies on the Wharf," organized by the Santa Cruz Woodies.   More than 185 Woodies dating as far back as 1923 were on public display on the Santa Cruz wharf.  

     Many of the woodies  were sporting license plates with monikers like "LIL WODY," "WDY4DAD" AND "51 WUDDY."    There were some  185 vehicles on display proving that  Woodies are still very popular even some 50 years after their initial surfer popularity.   Woodies of almost every age, color, size and make lined the pier as attendees meandered and observed.

     "Every year there's a lot of unique cars here," said Bob Barbour, one of the club's founding members and a Woody owner.    Barbour said that although the turnout of woodies was not disappointing, it was slightly lower than years past due to the weak economy and poor gas prices. Usually there are more than 200 Woodies in the show.   "This is almost exactly what we guessed it would be," he said.   About 75 to 80 percent of the Woodies were returning participants from years past, according to Santa Cruz Woodies President Ken Francis.

Read more at http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=77791

     I'm glad to see the revival of such cool vehicles where they were seen in great numbers in the days of the Beach Boys and Surfin' USA.   Hope to see this event continue for many more years.  ;o)

 

 

Wicked Dolphin and Lee Reefs to Benefit Special Operations Bionic Warriors

     The Florida-based producer filled barrels with distilled water and sent them 90 feet below sea level, down to the USS Mohawk Veterans Memorial Reef last week.   The barrels were then raised 72 hours later, and will be used to create the rum, named Sunken Barrel USS Mohawk CGC Reserve.

     Wicked Dolphin Rum and Lee Reefs have joined forces to create the rum, with 100% of the profits benefitting both the Lee Reefs program and the Special Operations Bionic Warriors; a foundation that ensures wounded, injured or ill US Special Operations veterans/athletes receive equipment, coaching and help to ensure achievement of their athletic goals.   We’re proud to be able to create this special rum to honor the spirit of our servicemen – past and present,” said Wicked Dolphin Distillery owner, JoAnn Elardo. “The Mohawk Reef is a wonderful setting to bring this product to life.”

     The rum will be available for purchase at Wicked Dolphin Distillery, based in Cape Coral at an RRP of US $39.99 for a 750ml bottle.  There will be 200 signature bottles sold with the name “Sunken Barrel USS Mohawk CGC Reserve.”

     This is a very special run being made for a very special cause.  Join in and support the efforts of Wicked Dolphin Distillery and get on of the 200 that are being made available.  for a very reasonable price. 

Papa's Pilar and You can Help the Oceans

     Papa’s Pilar, the rum that bears the name of Ernest Hemingway’s famous fishing boat, has launched a new campaign to encourage ocean preservation. Timed with World Oceans Day and Hemingway’s birthday, during the campaign Papa's Pilar will donate $1 to the Ocean Foundation every time a fan posts a photo of themselves enjoying a glassed Papa's Pilar near the water.

     Papa's Pilar is trying to encourage you to get your rum, get to the water, and share a photo enjoying some Pilar for a great cause!

 

 

#PilarPreserves (Must tag for us to see it!)

 

Spreading the word, posting a picture or two, and encouraging your following to do the same. Every post means a $1 donation to the Ocean Foundation and we’d love to see more of our partners and friends show everyone how it’s done! 

The Singapore Sling Turns 100 Years Old.

Long Bar at Raffles Hotel in Singapore

Ngiam Tong Boon

     It is not a usual thing to write about a Gin cocktail, but the Singapore Sling is a very popular cocktail that has survived 100 years of cocktail sales.   This is a very flavorful cocktail much like those of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, plus in my mind a real "hall of fame" cocktail.

     The Singapore Sling was created by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915 at the Long Bar in the Raffles hotel in its namesake city. A hundred years later, it is Singapore’s national drink, widely available on menus everywhere you turn, and has gained international fame. It is still de rigueur for tourist visiting Singapore to go into the flagship Raffles and have one at the Long Bar.

 

 

The Classic Singapore Sling

• 1 oz. Gin
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Brandy
• 1/4 oz. Cointreau
• 1/4 oz. Dom Benedictine
• 4 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz. Lime Juice
• 1/3 oz. Real Grenadine
• Dash of Angostura Bitters

Place all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled.  strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice.  Garnish with cherry and a slice of pineapple.

 

Summer Fun in the Keys

     The Florida Keys has a real beauty that comes to life in the summer time.  The beautiful blue water and skies against the white beaches provides me with a picture of fun and serenity.












    June is also when the sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches of the Florida Keys.  These nests are very important to the health of the waters around the keys and the sea turtle species remaining as populous as they are today.   Pleas avoid these nest whenever you are on the beaches during June.  They are very important to all of us who live down here. 

     The beauty of the waters and the beaches can't be beat, so come on down and enjoy them with us, but when you leave, the only thing you should leave behind are foot prints.  Thank You.  ;o)

Dillon Rum: an Agricole with a Twist

     Dillon is a storied name on the island of Martinique, a landmark French appellation in the heart of the French Caribbean.   But upon deeper examination, it is not quite what it appears. This French name, this French rum, has a bit of a different story.   That’s because behind one of Martinique’s eminent rhum brands is, in fact, an Englishman.

     An Englishman, who, no less, fought in the American War of Independence, a man who, while stationed in Martinique, eventually fell in love and married a local girl from a family of planters. He later served as Governor of Tobago, among other notable posts.   Dillon had a remarkable life, eventually becoming a Deputy in the French government until, charged with conspiracy (a fate all too frequent in the years after the French Revolution) he met his untimely end.   Today, this centuries-old rum brand still honors General Dillon, in more ways than one. 

     We recently obtained a bottle of one of the marque’s top-level rums: Dillon XO Hors d’age.  It has a pale orange-amber color, with a very smooth, sweet aroma of dried apricot and orange zest.   Then it gets interesting: the flavor profile is dominated by apricot, mixed in with a little pepper and orange zest; it’s even creamy, something exceedingly rare for a rhum agricole from Martinique.          It’s something different for this island; the finish is smooth, yes, but with the slightest whisper of white wine — giving the illusion of rum finished in Sauternes barrels.

     Because this rhum, though held to the same rigorous methodological requirements of the world’s only AOC designation for rhum, is not quite like others we’ve tasted from the island.   It’s creamy, sweet, even flowery. And if creamy gives the impression of milk, it shouldn’t; it simply has a velvety, oh-so-luxurious texture.  

Like its famous name, this rhum isn’t quite what one expects. And that’s precisely what makes it so wonderful.

Learn More at http://caribjournal.com/2015/06/20/rum-journal-a-martinique-rhum-with-a-different-story/#

Blackwell Jamaican Rum

     To some, Chris Blackwell is just a music mogul, but his family has been in the rum business for may years.  Chris has put his talents to work on a fine Jamaican rum these days and one that I am proud to say will be available at the Rum Bar here in Key West.

     Chris Blackwell is an international music icon, entrepreneur and cultural taste-maker. His reputation and lifestyle are the inspiration behind the brand and he is proud to offer the best of Jamaica.

     Chris hails from one of the oldest merchant families, the Lindo family. They first came to the island in 1625. His grandfather owned J. Wray & Nephew, renowned for distilling the best rum in Jamaica. Chris continues the family legacy with the introduction of Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum.

     Blackwell Rum has a dark bronze color with reddish highlights. the aroma brings notes of Demerara sugar and molasses.    The blend brings out notes of cocoa and chocolate, lasting long after the first sip.   This will be a welcome new addition to the Rum Bar collection of fine rums.

Cuban Government Still trying to be Sell Havana Club as Havana Club in the United States

     The Government of Cuba has asked the United States to allow Havana Club to sell its product in the United States.   They are claiming  the import ban continues to breach World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.   During the meeting of the WTO’s disputes settlement body, Cuban's diplomat Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo,  a permanent representative at the United Nations office in Geneva, argued that the restriction went against a 2002 WTO ruling.  US still supports the rights of Bacardi to sell Havana Club-branded drinks in America. 

     "The long-running dispute is one issue requiring resolution for the recent US-Cuba rapprochement to deliver normal trading relations. But WTO speech indicates that the Havana Club dispute is far from over. "Cuba has made countless efforts…" demanding US concessions for the Pernod Ricard joint venture, said the diplomat, but the import block "remains intact and in force." Cuba could in theory apply for authorization to levy retaliatory duties on US imports, but given the paucity of US-Cuba trade that is unlikely".

   Havana Club's director general, acknowledged that Havanista could be regarded as an insurance policy if it fails to get back the original trademark in the US. “We want to be sure we will be number one company in the US selling 100% Cuban rum."    If you visit the Havana Club Museum in Havana, you can buy Havanista Rum today and take it home with you.

 

 Read More at http://www.just-drinks.com/news/cuban-government-makes-havana-club-plea-to-us_id117306.aspx

     This is an interesting dispute that goes back to 1959 when the Cuban Government nationalized both Havana Club and the Bacardi Factories.   Bacardi bought the rights to Havana Club from the Arechabala Family.   There has been a bitter battle between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard all the way to the US Supreme Court where the court decided in favor of Bacardi.